Much like grapes used in fine wines, tea is so sensitive to soil and weather that it will vary greatly in flavor and bouquet from location to location and even from season within the same valley or on the same mountain. As a result, tea is almost always blended to produce a consistent taste. For example a "high grown Ceylon tea" will be a blend of teas from various estates located within the central mountains of Sri Lanka.

Although the tea bush can reach heights of 15 to 40 feet, it will be constantly pruned to 3 to 5 feet. This not only makes plucking the leaves easier but encourages far greater leaf production. The young plants are grown from cuttings taken from mother trees left to grow to their natural height. The cuttings are then carefully tended in special nursery beds until 12 months old, when they are planted out on the tea estate.

In warmer climates, like Sri Lanka and Southern India, the tea bush will reach maturity after four years of cultivation and can then begin its productive life. In these warm climates the harvesting, or the plucking of leaves, can go on year round with the flush of new leaves every 10 to 14 days. At higher altitudes or in colder climates, plants may need up to ten years to mature and the harvesting of leaves will be restricted to a specific growing season. The productive life of a tea bush can range from 50 to 100 years of age.

The plucking of tea leaves is still done by hand, despite many attempts to develop the right machinery. There are two types of plucking depending on the quality of the tea.

The first is "fine plucking" in which only the new bud and the two closest leaves at the end of each shoot are picked off the plant. This plucking of "two leaves and a bud," or the flush, is done in areas where better quality teas are grown. The freshly grown flush will have the strongest concentration of the essential oils that give tea its distinctive taste.

The second type of plucking is called "coarse plucking" in which, beside the flush, a few additional leaves are picked from each shoot. Usually this type of plucking is done with low quality teas that are often destined to be used as fillers in certain blends, or used to make powdered instant teas.

As soon as any leaf is picked, whatever the plant of origin, a process of decay begins. Since the unique flavor of tea is dependent on the natural juices of the tea leaf, it is essential that these leaves be processed or manufactured as soon as possible after plucking. As a result, each tea estate becomes a self-contained community with its focus both upon the field of bushes and the factory where the tea is processed.

A typical estate is Gartmore in the Dimbula district of Sri Lanka. Renowned for its high quality teas, it is a rare privilege to be able to sample its self drinking teas fresh from the factory before shipment off to market and the inevitable process of blending. Gartmore's 800 acres produce more than 450,000 kilograms of tea per year at an altitude of over 4000 feet above sea level. Gartmore has a resident population of 750 workers, with about 60% engaged as pluckers, often picking up to 70 pound of leaves a day, another 20% at work processing tea in the factory, and the remainder are involved in maintenance and upkeep of the fields. Like most other estates, Gartmore has its own village, which includes a general store, school, and medical clinic.